New Year,new dog,new projects.

[hank4elk]

24, heading to 70.

Looks like a nice day. No wind.
Chance of showers later in week,maybe.

Dotti out on morning critter patrol.
She's been hip to the yotes and sticks near the house.
Very smart. Runs into the cage kennel if she thinks I'm going somewhere. By herself.

New solar pump coming this week. Controller if needed.
Original well guy is out.
Both tanks low. Plants ready for planting.
Elk & antelope drinking what's left.

Got the drip around house going for the year.
Need to move the wild roses down to the streambed.
I'll get more wild grass seed and tree covers for the blossoms after well fixed.

The head remodel will have to wait til next year. Kitchen too.
Gotta get the steps and rails done on porches. 2 new doors.

One day at a time.
Doing fine.

 

[hank4elk]

75, spring.

New solar pump in and new on/off switch. 2 1/2 hrs, pull & replace. Curt,solo.
Water filling tanks again.
Well water @ 80ft...9 ft higher than when drilled.
I like it!

Dotti chased him to the corner and came back. Never went thru the fence.
Chasing chipmunks now.

Head to the city for seed & tree wraps/cloth tomorrow.
Maybe get some more fruit this year.
Be planting this week.
Maybe rain tomorrow night.

Gila is @ 3% of normal snowpack. 3rd lowest record.
Drought is back.
The water is more important than usual.
Lots of elk & antelope tracks.

Pool party @ Hank's.

 

[hank4elk]

24 again and nary a flake fell.

Well pumping great again and tanks filling.
Good. Lotta tracks about.

Got within 26 mi of Alb. Wed. and hit both lanes blocked as far as you can see. Turned around and went home.
Trying again in morning.

Trip to Q for waterline parts, success.
Chat session with neighbors.
Hit the Pie Shop on way home and scored 2 fresh chicken pot pies ,salad and a bummbleberry slice. All the berries with rhubarb & apple.

Dotti likes the pies.

Birds arriving. Looking for nests. Mates.
Juniper pollen blowing clouds.
Prairie dogs out and about.

Dotti has taken to my grandma's wicker chair.
Good view from the porch.

Good indeed.

 

[kansasdad]

Taking time to smell the roses and count blessings. Good on ya @hank4elk

 

[hank4elk]

Spring in NM. Wind.
Pollen clouds.
Dust clouds.
Fire danger.

No pit bbqs for a while.
Gotta get the smoker cleaned out I guess.

Water flowing good from well.
Buds swelling.
Currants leafing out.

Head to the big chitty for post op eye exam and supplies manana.
Year & a half on the new peepers.

I need to go shoot the rifle & sight it in one of these mornings soon.
Early before wind comes up.
Realized today it was sighted in on the old lenses.
Reliving last years shot. Off.

Lots of elk about.

Thinking positive.

 

[INMT]

Spring in NM. Wind.
Pollen clouds.
Dust clouds.
Fire danger.

No pit bbqs for a while.
Gotta get the smoker cleaned out I guess.

Water flowing good from well.
Buds swelling.
Currants leafing out.

Head to the big chitty for post op eye exam and supplies manana.
Year & a half on the new peepers.

I need to go shoot the rifle & sight it in one of these mornings soon.
Early before wind comes up.
Realized today it was sighted in on the old lenses.
Reliving last years shot. Off.

Lots of elk about.

Thinking positive.

Love your updates and writing. Been one of my favorite threads.

 

[hank4elk]

21 & a 1/4 inch of snow this morning.
Calm.

Watched as a herd of elk left around 9am yesterday. Dust cloud.

34 & breezy yesterday morn.
Changed as I pulled out mid-day to head to Alb.
Dotti went into her cage as I filled the Thermos. Smart dog.

Had to stop at the county road to let 2 belly dumps pass.
New road crew trying to raise the plowed out Graveyard rd.
Neighbor had called about it the day before and inquired about Preacher well water. Call the new owners I said.
I have good water,but not enough to help that.

Got on the state road(dirt) to the hwy.
Huge herd of elk feeding out in the draw. A couple hundred at least.
Winds had picked up.
Hit by a crosswind 10 miles down & it rocked the truck. Uh Oh.

The wind surging of the bottom of Acoma Mesa was intense. Meeting the blasts on the ground.
The Narrows. Lava on one side and a towering sandstone mesa on the other.
I 10 into the city was nuts. Dust clouds grew and headed past me towards the Big River.
Tail wind. Mostly.

Dropping down into the valley I could see 200'. Maybe. Tan haze covered the city.
71 with a 40-60mph wind.
Hit the native plant store and got a couple Bittercherries. A bag of grass seed and 6 yards of HD plant cloth. Early tree blossom wraps.
Team of 3 got it cut off the roll without blowing away.

Stopped at the Fruit Barn a 1st time. Nice apples but not what I wanted. Grabbed a bag of chile powder and dried apricots.
Next stop was a supermarket. 1st time in this one too. Not like the others, for sure.
Huge selection and found the Cosmic Crisp apples I like.
Giant cheese/deli counter and a nice lady with samples. Picked up a farmstead white chedder. A pint of Greek olives.
Hit the meat dept and found a nice tomahawk rib eye for us. Some chops.

Got to the eye clinic with a half hour to spare.
Went in 15 minutes early and checked in.
Got the time right and the day of the week. Wrong week.
LOL

Snuck out of town laughing.
Played dodge semi's into headwinds.
Eyes full of grit. I had forgot my drops.
Good thing I had my parka as I almost blew away getting gas before the drive back down thru the Malpais.
50 degrees. Clouds flying by.

Got thru the Narrows and out on the south pasture was a huge herd of elk. One of the largest I have seen in NM.
Feeding into the wind.

Got home to a happy doggie and started a fire.
We had an apple & some string cheese.
The wind died around 2 am when Dotti reminded me to stoke the stove.

Calm now and snow in a tan tint out there.
Dotti chewing an elk bone on the back porch in the sun.
Looks like snow Fri. into Sat.

I'll have damp ground to plant next week.
Calm all day tomorrow and a steak to grill.

Life is good.

 

[Dave N]

@hank4elk it sounds like you need a girlie calendar to hang up and write your appointments on! You might look at it once in a while!

 

[hank4elk]

@hank4elk it sounds like you need a girlie calendar to hang up and write your appointments on! You might look at it once in a while!

Local market wildlife this year.
It might help. Or I would screw up even more.
How about a senorita market one. Mexican market calendars always have hot chicks.

 

[hank4elk]

34 heading into 70's.

Dotti on morning patrol.
She woke me @ 0330 to get me to lite a fire. LOL
69 in the LR LOL,spoiled.

Yesterday she saw the thermos come out and went into her kennel/cage. Cool.
Got pills from PO and headed to the well folks to pay the bill and head up the Big River.
Cottonwoods starting to leaf out. Very dry along side.

Got the peepers checked and have 20/20 with readers for close now. Same as 30 years ago.
Very thorough check up. Even the Dr. came and saw me.
They worked on a skin flake near the left tear duck that has been bothering me.
Got most of it and then made me an appointment with a dermatologist that specializes in such skin problems.
Might even be the ticket for the rest of the skin issues.
Don't need to be beating one cancer and get another.

The pupil dialator stuff lasted a long time and made driving into a setting sun tough.
Got home later than I wanted and Dotti was just fine.
Long day.
We had cheese & apple, played a bunch and the elk foot retrieval game is a new favorite.
Fell asleep with her head on my lap.

T-posts and fencing starts today for the habitat project. Gotta make a bunch of chicken wire baskets for roots. Hardware cloth for base cages.
The rodents will be as big of problem as the elk at 1st.

Time to get a chunk of elk backstrap out for the fire. No heavy winds. For now.
All the snow locally is gone.

Coopers Hawk just snatched a chipmunk off the woodpile. Dotti was amazed.
Good. Need them nesting nearby.

Need to build some perches for the habitat cage. Maybe big enough for the eagles too.